Southland occupies the bottom-left corner of the South Island, and it wears its extremes openly. To the west, Fiordland receives some of the highest rainfall on earth, its drowned valleys carved into spectacular fiords that plunge between walls of ancient rainforest. To the east, the Southland Plains are flat farming country — sheep, cattle, and wide skies. In between lies a landscape of mountain ranges, braided rivers, and bush-filled valleys that see almost no visitors.
The region's main city is Invercargill, a no-nonsense Scottish-founded grid town that serves as the base for most travel in the south. From here you can reach the Catlins coast, the Bluff oyster country, and Stewart Island — one of the best places in New Zealand to see kiwi in the wild.
Wildlife is Southland's standout draw. The native bush, relatively intact compared to much of New Zealand, shelters species that vanished elsewhere: the takahē, long thought extinct, was rediscovered in the Murchison Mountains in 1948. Fiordland's waters hold dolphins, seals, and penguins. The Catlins coast hosts sea lions on the beach.
If you are not walking the Milford or Kepler tracks, Southland rewards slow travel: a drive down the Southern Scenic Route from Queenstown to Invercargill through the Catlins reveals a coastline of petrified forest, waterfalls, and wildlife that most visitors miss entirely.
Destinations in Southland
- Fiordland — wilderness national park containing the Milford and Doubtful sounds
- Gore — eastern Southland town known for brown trout fishing and country music
- Invercargill — the region's main city and southern gateway
